Cost explosion exacerbates the situation in the corrugated board industry

Exorbitant price increases for corrugated base paper are putting corrugated board manufacturers under increasing pressure. This is reported by the companies organized in the Verband der Wellpappen-Industrie e. V. (VDW) organized enterprises. As the latest figures published by the EUWID business service show, the price rally, which has already been ongoing since the end of 2020, gained further significant momentum in the middle of the year. According to the figures, corrugated board manufacturers had to pay an average of 40.1 percent more for what is by far the most important raw material across all grades in June than in September 2020. The predominantly used recovered paper-based grades even increased in price by 60 percent in the same period. In addition, almost all sectors of German industry are experiencing drastic raw material shortages, which are also leading to long delivery times in the corrugated board industry.

"The gap between drastically rising costs and falling revenues is putting our member companies in an economically precarious situation," VDW Managing Director Dr. Oliver Wolfrum comments on the current situation. According to his assessment, the high demand for corrugated board packaging and the associated seller's market on the part of corrugated base paper suppliers do not suggest any easing of paper prices in the foreseeable future. Paper price increases of 20 euros per ton have already been announced for August. Discussions with customers are currently correspondingly intensive.